-ED Makes a Syllable
(Past Tense Verbs & Adjectives)
Reading & Pronunciation
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-ED Makes a Syllable
With regular verbs, -ED is used to form the past tense. It's also used to create the past participle (V3) which also gets used as an adjective.
A lot of students mistakenly think that this -ED ending adds an extra syllable. However, -ED actually only adds an extra syllable in a few cases. The majority of time, it creates a sound that gets blended into the consonant which comes before it.
After T and D
After T and D
The only time -ED makes an extra syllable is when it comes after a -T or -D sound.
It usually sounds like /ɪd/
Examples: started, bended, visited, separated, dated, attended, amended
Practice these sounds
Practice these sounds
You can listen to words with this sound on my Memrise course here. Practice saying the sound in isolation. Consider doing this activity to get used to saying it while speaking.
After a -D or -T sound
After a -D or -T sound
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